Tucked away in a building A GROWING COMPANY DEEPLY ROOTED IN THE HUDSON VALLEY COMPANY PROFILE ULTRA SEAL CORP. AND ULTRA TAB LABORATORIES

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1 COMPANY PROFILE ULTRA SEAL CORP. AND ULTRA TAB LABORATORIES A GROWING COMPANY DEEPLY ROOTED IN THE HUDSON VALLEY Tucked away in a building right off the New York State Thruway on Route 299 in New Paltz, NY is a globally recognized multi-faceted manufacturer. Ultra Seal Corporation is a contract packager that provides unique solutions for packaging solid dose, powders, liquids, creams, ointments and gels into unit-of-dose packets, blisters, bottles, and tubes. This family-owned business has been growing, expanding and evolving in the Hudson Valley since Ultra Seal and their sister company Ultra Tab located down the road in Highland, NY produce many common products used in hospitals and extended care facilities and ones that can be found in your own medicine cabinet. These include triple antibiotic, hydrocortisone cream, and The Council of Industry Magazine and Membership Directory 21

2 An Ultra Tab Laboratories operator keeping the bottle line running smoothly, One of many machines that runs daily to keep up with production workload. white petrolatum jelly. They also produce familiar examples of over the counter (OTC) solid dose products such as pain relievers, antacids, allergy tablets, cough drops, decongestants and cold tablets. Many of these items produced at Ultra Seal and Ultra Tab end up in industrial first aid kits across the country, likely even in the ones at your facility. As a full service contract manufacturer and packager of branded OTC pharmaceutical and nutraceutical consumer products the items produced in New Paltz and Highland are sold nationally through grocery stores, mass retail, and chain drugstores. With the nutritional supplement industry greatly expanding over the last few years many companies in that industry have grown to depend on Ultra Seal for turnkey services from manufacturing the bulk ingredients to shipping to distributor warehouses. This versatile company prides itself on being able to accommodate a wide range of products and packaging needs. Building a Business Ultra Seal has evolved through the years, from producing packaging for single dose medications to formulating and manufacturing products for many customers nationally, as well as developing their own line of products. My father, the founder and President, Dennis Borrello, taught himself the skills of mechanical engineering at a tool and die shop in New Jersey. He then got an offer to work with the Heinz Corporation building and designing packaging machines for Sweetn-Low, explained Dawn Borrello, Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing, with that relocating the family to the Hudson Valley. Soon after the Heinz Corporation elected to move their operations to Connecticut but my father decided to stay here. He realized he could use his expertise to start up a packaging company in the region. Ultra Seal was incorporated in 1976 when Mr. Borrello and a partner bought a small packaging plant in Highland, NY. Over time he bought out his partner and the facility grew. He applied the knowledge that he gained to improve upon the packaging machine design, enabling him to design equipment for packaging dietary products. By 1995 the company needed a larger facility and moved into one of its current locations in New Paltz. This new site offered 50,000 sq. feet for expansion, and by 1996 another similar sized facility on Toc Drive in Highland (the site of former necktie maker and Council of Industry member, Countess Mara) was added as the Ultra Tab Laboratories production facility. Ultra Tab is the sister company that manufactures bulk products including the tablets, creams, ointments, and liquids that Ultra Seal packages. Versatility and Integration Ultra Seal has come a long way from its early days but still uses some of the same machines that Mr. Borrello built in the 1970 s. We don t get rid of anything, said Ms. Borrello. Most of these older machines are still used on a daily basis. Some have been improved and repurposed to meet different needs. There is a machine shop located in the Ultra Seal facility where Mr. Borrello can often be found working on customized machinery, cost effectively and with a quick turnaround. As the customer demand becomes more exacting and delivery times have become tighter, Ultra Seal has brought more processes in-house to 22 HV MFG

3 gain greater control. Recently the company purchased a used printing press from an apple packing plant to supplement the 6 station flexographic press they currently use to print pouches for their products. The more we are able to do in-house, the more control over the quality and timeliness of our products we have, explained Ms. Borrello. When we had to consistently wait for our customers bulk product, for example, we decided to start our own manufacturing company to produce it ourselves. In addition to packaging the items produced at Ultra Tab, many clients provide their own product to be packaged by Ultra Seal. Expanding the pharmaceutical related product line has meant that the company has had to follow both, ardent government regulations and specific requirements of customers. This includes cleaning validations each time a product line is changed, EPA regulations for waste water and having New York State Board Certified Pharmacists on staff. Ultra Tab Laboratories is registered with the FDA to manufacture both OTC and prescription pharmaceuticals. They are also registered with the DEA and licensed to handle Schedule III, IV, and V drugs as well as List 1 chemicals. It was a challenge at first as our competition is made up of big pharmaceutical companies with a greater range of resources. Just to produce generic Ibuprofen, Ultra Tab was required to do research, drug trials and testing the same as a major pharmaceutical manufacturer would, costing hundreds of thousands of dollars, explained Martin Sennett, Vice President of Sales and Marketing. Unfortunately many of the regulations favor big pharma, for small guys like us a few hundred thousand dollars is big money, for big pharmaceuticals that s just a drop in the bucket. This is driving many smaller U.S. drug manufacturers out of business, and shifting business overseas where companies may not be under the same scrutiny or financial burdens as in this country. Commitment to Employees, Customers A benefit of working with Ultra Seal and Ultra Tab is their ability to provide turn key services for their customers. Here tubes are being filled, coming off the line and immediately boxed for shipment to distributors. and Community Despite the sea of regulations and the high cost of doing business in New York State, Ultra Seal is committed to staying in Ulster County. Recently the company even looked for a facility large enough to consolidate their current operations, but was unable to find anything satisfactory. Still in need of additional storage space, Ultra Seal bought a former apple packing facility (65,000 sq. ft.) in Plattekill, which is used as a warehouse for both companies. One of the reasons Ultra Seal has chosen to keep operations in New Paltz and Highland is because of the dedication and dependability of their workforce. Ms. Borrello explained that many of their employees are from the Newburgh area and in some cases there are employees that have been at Ultra Seal for decades. We are part of this community. We support many of the local community programs and sports teams. The Hudson Valley is a nice place to live. We have generations of families out on the floor. Ultra Seal s employees also bring a varied set of skills to the company, and because of the range of in-house capabilities they are able to work with customers of all sizes, from large corporations to small start-ups. Clients can sit down and discuss their product or basic formula with the chemist and pharmacists on staff. Ultra Seal also employs a graphic specialist to ensure that clients ideas are translated effectively on their packaging. They have the ability to custom design unique packaging that fulfills specific needs such as special die-cuts, multiple chamber packets, and coupon-sample packs. The tooling and equipment to produce custom packaging can be modified on-site to accommodate specific packaging needs. It is this flexibility that isn t often found at the large pharmaceutical companies. As Ultra Seal and Ultra Tab continue to grow and expand, Mr. Sennett sees a future for the company with increased involvement in generic prescription products, in addition to nutritional supplements and nutraceuticals. We are also in the homeopathic market now and The Council of Industry Magazine and Membership Directory 23

4 are working with a company in Rhinebeck, as well as companies based in New York City and California. said Mr. Sennett. In this area, already being GMP compliant has helped because the FDA is now coming out with more regulations for supplements. He also sees the company s involvement in home healthcare and the long term care facilities expanding over the next few years. The future is never easy to predict and given current discussions in New York State on wages and the ever increasing cost of regulations, the future of manufacturing companies Dennis Borrello, owner of Ultra Seal and Ultra Tab Laboratories is setting up a tablet machine for a new job. He spends much of his time tweaking the tablet and ointment machines to assure everything is running at full capacity for the highest production performance. seems increasingly uncertain but Ultra Seal and Ultra Tab will continue to do their best to be a part of Hudson Valley manufacturing for many years to come. As Ms. Borrello explained, We ve planted roots and we aren t going anywhere. This is a family business and everyone is involved with dayto-day operations. Above (left to right); Anthony Borrello, Dawn Borrello and Michael Borrello. 24 HV MFG

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